In lawmaking, as in life, some of the best moves are the ones you don’t make.

In the recent Legislature, over 20 bills were filed that took aim at a high-speed rail project between Dallas and Houston, including some that may have killed the plan. Ultimately, just two bills passed — one ensuring the state won’t pick up any costs for the train and the other requiring adequate safety measures.

Texas Central Partners, the group developing the rail line, didn’t object to the bills.

That means the $12 billion-plus project can keep moving forward, and the market — not the government — will decide whether a private bullet train will fly in Texas.

That’s how it should be, especially with something this audacious. A high-speed rail line between two of the country’s biggest, fastest-growing metros could have a major impact on transportation, jobs and economic development. It also would make Texas a trailblazer, which would help attract talented workers to the region.

But the financial risks are profound. Many doubt the rail line will be built, and if it is, that it can ever operate profitably. Most bullet trains require large subsidies from the public.

That’s not going to happen here, not after the governor signed a bill into law last month.

“Texas taxpayers will not be asked to later subsidize, bail out or otherwise financially support a private high-speed rail project,” said a summary by the Senate Research Center.

The rail developers are fine with that. They’ve always pledged to not seek state or federal grants, a key selling point. That’s one reason conservative groups have praised the project and warned against government overreach.

The state has an opportunity to innovate and lead the nation, wrote a chief strategist for the American Legislative Exchange Council.

“To realize a boon to taxpayers, Texas merely has to allow the free market to operate by not expanding government in the form of discriminatory legislation,” Bartlett Cleland wrote in an April report.

There’s still a long way to go before we can travel from Dallas to Houston in a 90-minute train ride. Federal regulators are working on a draft environmental impact study, expected to be finished this year. More public meetings and revisions will follow, and when construction of the 240-mile line begins, that’s expected to take about five years.

That would make the train operational by around 2023.

Long beforehand, Texas Central has to raise billions, and Austin represents a potential roadblock.

"We talk to investors all the time, and one of their questions is, ‘What’s going to happen in the Legislature?’” said Holly Reed, managing director of external affairs for Texas Central.

That question has been answered, she said. But only for now.

Some landowners along the potential routes have opposed the project all along, insisting that a bullet train would disrupt their rural way of life and bring few benefits. They’re well organized and have clout with their elected representatives.

They pushed for eminent domain limits and a financial bond from the rail company. While those bills died, opponents aren't backing off, said Kyle Workman, president of Texans Against High-Speed Rail.

They plan to fight all along the route, especially attempts to use eminent domain to acquire right of way.

“They have to win every case — all we have to do is win one,” Workman said. “They’re gonna have to fight the battle in all these rural counties. Good luck.”

The number of landowners opposed to the train is dwarfed by those who could benefit from it. But opponents are more energized, said Mark Jones, political science fellow at Rice University. And that enthusiasm gap matters in local elections.

“That small vocal minority is intensely opposed and more likely to vote in the Republican primary — and vote against anyone who’s not working to stop the train,” Jones said. “Until it’s built, Texas Central is gonna have to worry about this every two years.”

The company was caught by surprise in 2015, when lawmakers from some rural counties nearly derailed the project. This time, Texas Central was ready with a contingent of lobbyists, consultants and supporters.

They focused on selling the benefits to lawmakers and marshaling backers. The company said over 65 cities and organizations endorsed the project, including chambers of commerce, restaurants and civil engineers. Officials wheeled in boxes with 9,000 letters of support.

Texas Central President Tim Keith told lawmakers that the top priority was to work with landowners and avoid eminent domain. They’ve signed over 3,000 survey access forms and options for 30 percent of the parcels likely needed for the route, he said.

Students from Blinn College and Texas A&M submitted testimony that touted the potential jobs, safety benefits and improved access.

“Texas has a booming economy, and limiting transportation and private investment in Texas will do nothing but stifle future growth,” wrote Kylie Fruge, a 20-year-old studying urban planning at Blinn.

A critic of the bullet train said the Legislature was wise to limit the public risk because infrastructure projects often run out of money.

“Strong protections must be there for taxpayers,” said Baruch Feigenbaum of the Reason Foundation, a libertarian think tank.

By his analysis, the bullet train wouldn’t attract enough riders to be profitable. But he doesn’t want government stopping it.

“The facts of the project should decide it, not some legislative maneuver,” he said.